By Masood Butt,
DIIR press coordinator, Kalachakra
Bodh Gaya, January 5 – Bodh Gaya is all set to receive His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama for the Kalachakra pooja beginning from January 12. His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrives in Patna tomorrow (January 6) from Delhi. After spending an overnight there, His Holiness will leave for Bodh Gaya the next day. His Holiness will be staying at the Maitreya (Project) Institute in Bodh Gaya.
Local authorities of Gaya District including District Magistrate, Deputy Inspector General and Superintendent of Police along with the Secretaries of Departments of Religion & Culture and Security of Central Tibetan Administration visited the important sites and inspected all the arrangements being made for the Kalachakra pooja in Bodh Gaya. Elaborate security arrangements have been made at the important points and along the routes. Additional police forces have been deployed on round the clock duty, and some are stationed at various entry points in Bodh Gaya. The Centre and Sate governments are determined to make the best possible security arrangements for all during the entire Kalachakra programme.
Devotees from different parts of India, Nepal, Bhutan and other countries continue to arrive in Bodh Gaya to attend the Kalachakra pooja. Thousands of Buddhist devotees from the Indian Himalayas from Arunachal Pradesh in the northeast to Ladakh region in the northwest have reached here, and many more are expected to join their fellow Buddhists from all over the world to attend the Kalachakra Initiation Ceremony conducted by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It is estimated that around 80,000 devotees have already arrived in Bodh Gaya to this date, and thousands are still on the way reaching Bodh Gaya in the next few days. The 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Ugyen Trinley Dorjee arrived here this evening.
A detailed Kalachakra Teachings and Initiation programme will be released tomorrow in the afternoon at the press conference.
Contact: Sonam N. Dagpo, Additional Secretary
Masood Butt, Press Coordinator
Department of Information & International Relations
Central Tibetan Administration, Dharamshala, India
Camped at: Mahayana Guest House, Bodh Gaya
Tel: +91-631-2200675, 2200756
Fax: +91-631-2200676
E-mail: buttm70@yahoo.com
Website: www.tibet.net
